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COU. DAINIEU WHITIIVa 

OF DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS. 

By Frank Smith. 



Daniel Whiting, son of Jonathan and 
Anna (Bullard) Whiting, was born on his 
father's farm in Dover (MoNamara place 
on Springdale avenue) February 5, 1732. 
He was descended in the fourth generation 
from Nathaniel Whiting, the founder of 
the Dedham family. Nathaniel Whiting 
first appeared in Lynn in 1638. He was ad- 
mitted to the Dedham Church in 1641, and 
was made a freeman in 1642, being then 
about 33 years of age. He was by occupa- 
tion a miller, and with John Elderkin, 
built the first corn mill in Dedham, for 
which enterprise they were made liberal 
grants of land. This mill was located on 
East Brook, and was built previous to July, 
1641, as shown by the fact that the town 
at that time appointed a committee "to lay 
out a cart way to our water mill." By 1655 
Nathaniel Whiting had acquired the entire 
ownership in this property, which re- 
mained in the Whiting family until 1823. 
Nathaniel Whiting was a public benefac- 
tor, in being with his associate the first to 
operate a water mill for the grinding of 
corn in Dedham, a facility for which the 
town stood in great need, as the nearest 
corn mill was at Watertown, which was 
many miles away by water. 

Jonathan Whiting, the great grandson 
of Nathaniel, settled in the Dedham Spring- 
field Parish, (now Dover) in 1725. He mar- 
ried the same year Anna, daughter of 
William and Elizabeth (Avery) Ballard, and 
here they commenced their married life. 
Jonathan Whiting had a large estate in the 
centre of the Parish, which adjoined the 
early settled farms of Nathaniel Chicker- 
ing and Eleazer Ellis on Haven street. He 
added to farming the business of a tannery, 
which was located on Spring brook. Here 
a flourishing business was carried on for 
many years, the vats being remembered by 



residents of a former generation. Mr. and 
Mrs. Whiting had a family of 11 children, 
six sons and five daughters, all of whom 
grew to maturity and reared families. 
Daniel Whiting, the subject of this sketch, 
was the third son and fourth child born to 
Jonathan and Anna Whiting. He at- 
tended, with his brothers and sisters, the 
Parish School on Haven street, where he 
acquired a good common school education, 
as his letters and papers show. In his 
youth and early manhood he worked on 
his father's farm and in the tannery. 

The Springfield Parish finished its meet- 
ing house in 1761. This was the most im- 
portant institution in the Parish. The 
same year Daniel Whiting completed the 
needs of the Parish, in the erection, on 
Dedham street, of the tavern, a structure 
which is still standing, and is of great in- 
terest as the last one of the pre-Revoln- 
tionary taverns in this vicinity. Like all 
early tavern keepers, Daniel Whiting was 
a prominent man, and in his life and deeds 
reflected credit on the Parish. He con- 
tinued to be the proprietor of this tavern 
until the breaking out of the Revolution, 
and during the contest he sold this prop- 
erty and loaned every dollar to the State, 
without security, so great was her neces- 
sity. The Revolution had no greater 
heroes than those who did such things. 
There was a small dance hall, and a bar- 
room in this tavern, and it is believed that 
he also had a small store in connection. 
In the bar-room of Whiting's Tavern the 
"Sons of Liberty" assembled and discussed 
those mighty questions which came up for 
consideration before the breaking ont of 
the Revolution, and after the war was over 
the old soldiers assembled here for many 
years and fought their battles o'er. 

Daniel Whiting married in 1761 Mehit- 



I 






able, daughter of Daniel and Mehitable 
(Haven) Haven of Framingham, who was 
a frequent visitor at the home of her uncle, 
Dea. Joseph Haven, on Haven street. Five 
children were born to them in the old 
Tavern as follows: Mehitable, Paul, 
Fanny, Roger, and Nancy. Mrs. Whiting 
died in June, 1775, and her husband re- 
mained single during the remaining years 
of his life. Daniel Whiting was a gentle- 
man of the old school, commanding in man- 
ner, six feet in height, and reputed the 
handsomest man in the County. He was 
very erect, light complexioned, and was 
said to bear a remarkable resemblance to 
General Washington, who was to be his 
commander-in-chief in the Revolution ; he 
was born in the same month and year as 
Washington. Mr. Whiting was loved and 
respected by everyone. 

Although left with the care and respon- 
sibility of five young children, yet it did 
not deter him, as it would have done a less 
brave and patriotic man, from entering the 
service of his country, and giving six years 
of efficient service. During this period his 
children were widely scattered, having been 
pat into the homes of relatives. 

Daniel Whiting engaged in the last 
French and Indian War, and in that ser 
vice learned the use of firearms and the 
value of discipline, all of which he put to 
good use in the war that followed with the 
Motherland. He went on the Crown Point 
expedition in 1755, and served in Capt. 
William Bacon's Company from Sept. 15, 
1755, to December 16, 1755. He was an en- 
sign in Capt. Nathaniel Bailey's Company 
from Feb. 26, 1760, to Deo. 6, 1760, and in 
this service he went into the New York 
campaign. He has been credited with 
being a lieutenant in Capt. William Bacon's 
Company, but the fact is not established by 
the records in the State Archives. He was 
probably a lieutenant in the militia. In 1759 
Capt. Joseph Richards delivered to Daniel 
Whiting 29 bayonets with scabbards and 
other belongings of his company in Ded- 
ham. 

In the breaking out of the Revolution, 
Daniel Whiting marched as a first lieu- 
tenant in Capt. Ebenezer Battelle's Com- 
pany of the Springfield Parish, at the Lex- 
ington Alarm. Having seen service in the 
French and Indian War, his promotion 



was rapid. What was said of his neigh- 
bors and friends was not probably true of 
him, because of his war discipline, that 
"they were independent in their ways, as 
unaccustomed to discipline as they were 
averse to it, disposed to insubordination 
and only too ready to go ofif in order to at- 
tend to their domestic affairs and return in 
leisurely fashion when their business was 
done." 

On April 24, 1775, he was made a Captain 
in Col. Brewer's Regiment. He took part, 
with 16 other residents of the Parish, in 
the Battle of Bunker Hill. The regiment 
was placed on the diagonal line between 
the breastwork and the rail fence. It is 
said that these soldiers conducted them- 
selves with great bravery. Capt. Whiting 
was in the Siege of Boston, but it does not 
appear that he took part in fortifying Dor- 
chester Heights. Nov. 6, 1776, he was 
made a Major in Col. Asa Whitcomb's Reg- 
iment, and served until Dec. 31, 1776, at 
Ticonderoga. Jan. 1, 1777, he entered Col. 
Brooks's regiment, Sept. 29, 1778, he was 
made a Lieut. Col. in the Massachusetts 
6th Regiment, Col. Thomas Nixson's, and 
served until January, 1781, when he retired 
to take care of his five motherless children. 
After all the danger, privation, sacrifice, 
and suffering which he had endured, when 
returning from the Army he was obliged 
to borrow money of a resident of West 
Point to defray his expenses home, and 
which he was unable to repay for many 
years because of the failure of the State to 
pay him back the money he loaned her in 
her distress. (See Narrative History of 
Dover for petition made to the State in 
1782). 

CoL Whiting saw a long service in the 
State of New York. In the "Border Wars" 
against the Indians, Tories and British 
soldiers. Col. Ichabod Alden of the Mas- 
sachusetts Sixth Regiment had command 
of the fort at Cherry Valley, where on the 
11th of November, 1778, a fearful massacre 
took place. The attack was made at noon- 
day and "gave the settlement a complete 
surprise notwithstanding all our endeavors 
to the contrary," wrote Major Whiting. 
The officers of the regiment were stopping 
at the house of Robert Wells. The officers 
fled from the Wells' mansion as they saw 
the enemy approach, but Col. Alden, who 



Gift 

Author 
(Person) 



tarried for a moment, was killed on the 
road by a tomahawk. Major Whiting for- 
tunately reached the fort in safety, where 
he took command. Of this attack he wrote 
"had it not been for the great activity and 
alertness of the troops they had rushed 
within the line." Major Whiting held the 
fort against the Indians in a fearful en- 
gagement which continued for two days, 
the Orst attack lasting for three and a half 
hours. On the 13th of November, after the 
enemy had withdrawn. Major Whiting 
sent out parties to bring in the dead. Such 
a shocking sight of savage and brutal bar- 
barity they had never before seen. The 
dead were mangled and scalped, some had 
heads, some legs, and some arms cut off, 
while others had the flesh torn off their 
bones by dogs. 

It was the plan of the British to separate 
New England from the rest of the colonies; 
to blockade the coast and keep the Tories 
and Indians active on the frontier and so 
crush out the Continental Army. In 1779, 
Gen. John Sullivan was appointed by 
Washington to break the power of the In- 
dian allies of the British, and he assigned 
to him a third of the Continental Army 
with which to do the work. A fortitioation 
was built by the Indians at Newtowne,near 
Elmira, where it was believed Gen. Sulli- 
van would pass. It was strongly fortified, 
but under the command of Gen, Sullivan it 
was captured and the Indians and Tories 
routed. In this memorable battle, which 
is coming to be seen as one of the decisive 
battles of the Revolution, Col. Daniel 
Whiting commanded a part of the garrison 
under Brig. Gen. Enoch Poor, the Massa- 
chusetts Sixth Regiment. 

On his return to civil life. Col. Whiting 
gathered his children around him and in 



May, 1781, took up his residence in Natick. 
Six days later. May 28, 1781, was witnessed 
the curious custom of the times in warn- 
ing, by the constable of the town, this 
prominent and distinguished soldier to de- 
part from the town. In 1787 he had better 
standing, and was made one of the town 
"Wardens." Col. Whiting later returned 
to Dover, where he resided for a time. Like 
most officers of the Revolution he was a 
Freemason, but the lodge in which he was 
made a mason is not known. He was one 
of the petitioners in 1801, for the setting up 
of Constellation Lodge in Dedham, but he 
did not become a charter member of this 
lodge. Through some irregularity he was 
unfortunate in securing the bounty land 
which was granted by the United States 
Government to the soldiers of the Revolu- 
tion, and through the faudulent act of 
another, he lost this bounty which he had 
go laboriously and faithfully earned. Col. 
Daniel Whiting died in Natick, at the home 
of his son-in-law, Ebenezer Newell, Oct. 17, 
1807, and was buried in the family lot in 
Highland cemetery in Dover. On Arbor 
Day, 1892, the pupils of the Sanger Schoo 
in Dover, planted an elm tree, with appro- 
priate exercises, in memory of Col. Whiting, 
which stands on the Common near the 
town sheds. Coming generations can rest 
beneath this tree and from the spot see a 
portion of the farm where he was born ; 
the tavern which he built ; and the place 
where he is buried. His commission as a 
Lieut. Col. in the Continental Army hangs 
upon the walls of the Dover Historical So- 
ciety— Sawin Memorial Building— and a 
marker of the Sons of the American Rev- 
olution marks his grave, which is only a 
short distance from the old historic land- 
mark, the Whiting Tavern, which he built. 



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